swivelCard

Discovered: The Business Card Of The Future

In the modern day of business, where we use smartphones, GPS and the cloud to improve our productivity, doesn’t it seem a bit antiquated to still be handing out business cards made out of tree pulp?

Technology has helped out enterprises so much, but one area that hasn’t moved into the 21st century is business cards. swivelCard is a new Kickstarter that isn’t necessarily looking to replace them, but they are looking to make them smarter.

The basic idea of a swivelCard is combining a USB drive with a business card. The USB is paper and hides in the business card when it’s in its regular position. But when you want to expose the USB, you slide the card (almost like folding it in half) and out pops the USB part that you plug into the computer.

Now you’re probably thinking: What can I put onto a USB stick that will be of use to someone else? Well, the answer is quite simple. Of course, you could include pictures, presentations and contact information, but the real signature here might be the remote access. After handing out a swivelCard, you can update the information on each one — or all of them at once — via remote access. So, let’s say you’re a web designer who has handed out a bunch of cards at a networking event. Later on, you can update each individual card you handed out, say, with custom information for that specific user — or do a blast to everyone you handed a card to. For example: You could should off your graphics design to one specific person or if you just finished an entire project, you could broadcast it to everyone you handed them out to.

The analytics are also a winning feature. Through a backend software, the swivelCard can provide analytics and will be able to communicate to you how your cards are being used. Are people even plugging your card into a computer? Are people liking your presentation or avoiding it? Are they clicking through? You’ll get direct feedback on what’s happening and you can use that information to improve your sales pitch and increase conversions.

swivelCard truly make business cards smart. It transforms a piece of paper into useful data that can directly impact your bottom line. However, there’s still no guarantee that someone will plug in your USB, which is a similar hurdle that old business cards deal with. The only difference is that while 500 old business cards might cost you $10, 200 personalized swivelCards are going for $419. At over $2 a pop, you’ll have to be careful who you hand these out to — or costs will skyrocket.

And while this is a very creative, innovative move, one still has to wonder whether this idea will last. At the end of the day, this is still handing out business cards, which seems like a quaint process. Isn’t there a way to network using smartphones without having to reach into our pockets and hand out cards? While swivelCard seems like a big upgrade over the current method, there’s probably an even more technologically advanced method coming in the near future.